John Aguiar
John Colin De Silva (PVSM, AVSM), born in 1943, served in the Indian Navy for 38 years. Known as “Johnny” De Silva, he was commissioned into the Navy in the mid-1960s and specialised in navigation and direction. He was the commissioning commanding officer of INS Ranvijay, a Rajput-class guided missile destroyer, and took part in operations during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
Over the course of his service, he held several operational and staff appointments, including command at sea and senior positions at Naval Headquarters. He also attended professional military training institutions in India and abroad as part of his advancement to higher command.
As Director General of the Indian Coast Guard from 1999 to 2001, he oversaw maritime law enforcement and search and rescue operations across India’s coastline. During this period, he directed the operation that led to the interception and recovery of the hijacked merchant vessel MV Alondra Rainbow in the Arabian Sea. The operation resulted in the arrest of the pirates and the recovery of the vessel and its cargo.
He was appointed vice chief of the Naval Staff from 2001 to 2002. In this role, he was involved in naval operations, personnel management, and aspects of procurement and fleet development during a period of ongoing modernisation.
For his service, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), which are among India’s highest peacetime military honours.
After retiring in 2003, he settled in Porvorim, Goa. In 2007, the Government of Goa established the Overseas Employment Agency under the Commission for NRI Affairs and appointed him chairman of its Executive Committee.
In this capacity, he worked on the regulation of overseas recruitment for Goans seeking employment, particularly in the Gulf and parts of Europe. His responsibilities included reviewing applications from recruitment agents, coordinating with relevant authorities on compliance with emigration laws, and addressing complaints from workers and their families. He was also associated with efforts to improve awareness of legal recruitment channels and to support pre-departure guidance and skills training initiatives. He continued in this role on an honorary basis until his death on November 20, 2019. He was buried with full military honours at Holy Family Church in Porvorim, with three former chiefs of Naval Staff in attendance.
